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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/22620268">The Bad Stuff Is Easier To Believe</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaz_1789/pseuds/Chaz_1789'>Chaz_1789</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rules Meant To Be Broken [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Supernatural</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - High School, Fluff and Angst, High School Student Dean Winchester, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, John Winchester's A+ Parenting, M/M, Mentions of child abuse/neglect, Sex Worker Castiel (Supernatural), they're both seventeen</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-02-09</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-04-28 08:20:42</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Underage</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,610</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/22620268</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaz_1789/pseuds/Chaz_1789</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Cas needs to make more hard decisions, Dean needs to find his courage, and Sam needs to be a little less smart for everybody's sake.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Castiel/Dean Winchester</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Rules Meant To Be Broken [6]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/867141</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>23</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>The Bad Stuff Is Easier To Believe</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Dean was more nervous than he probably should be. Or maybe he wasn't nervous enough, he really had no idea – he had no benchmark for this crap.</p>
<p>It was the next evening, and the five of them – Dean, Cas, Bobby, Anna and Sam – sat around Bobby's rough-hewn kitchen table, eating the dinner Dean had cooked (or, 'obsessed over' as Bobby had described it through a knowing smirk). </p>
<p>Sam had been...a little confused when Dean had explained why they were going to Bobby's for dinner and with whom. </p>
<p>"I think I know the guy you're talking about," he'd said slowly, after Dean mentioned Cas. "I heard he's quiet and kinda weirds out other students." </p>
<p>"Well, he may be quiet but he ain't weird," said Dean defensively. "He's into books, maybe you guys will have that in common." He'd been treated to a perplexed squint before Sam had simply shrugged and got ready to go. </p>
<p>It had been an interesting car ride over too, with Sam riding shotgun and Anna with Cas in the back. Every time Dean glanced back and caught a flash of Cas in the rear-view, he was reminded forcibly of what they'd done on that seat only a few weeks ago. But Dean stubbornly refused to get hard while driving a car full of kids and whilst sitting next to his little brother. That was a new low to which he would <em>not</em> sink.</p>
<p>Although there had been a couple of agitated "Eyes on the road, Dean"s from Sam. Dean had tried not to blush each time he was caught out, but damn, Cas looked good. </p>
<p>The greetings when they had arrived had been slightly stilted, Cas looking like he expected an FBI raid at any second, but at least Anna seemed at ease around the new people. She'd actually given Dean a hug when he had picked them up (which was pretty freaking adorable).</p>
<p>Once the painful introductions were over, Dean had escaped to the kitchen to start cooking and to avoid the potential awkwardness of having two kid siblings, Bobby, and the guy he'd fucked repeatedly and was sort of totally gone for, in the same room. Once the meal was ready they all took their seats and for a short while the fact that everyone was stuffing their face was a glorious excuse for there to be no talking. But that couldn't last forever.</p>
<p>"So," Bobby began, and Dean clenched. He knew Bobby wouldn't expose Cas in front of Sam and Anna but he still felt mighty anxious about this shindig. But Bobby turned to Anna as he spoke. "Dean tells me you've made a real good start in your new school here. Made some good friends, too?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," replied Anna brightly, "I was telling him when he came over for dinner, there's this one girl who is super awesome and she's called Jo and she beats up any boys who make fun of people and she helped me with my artwork when I couldn't find the right materials and Miss Mulaney was busy."</p>
<p>"This Jo's last name Harvelle by any chance?" mused Bobby and Dean was startled when Anna exclaimed;</p>
<p>"Yes, it is!"</p>
<p>"Well, as chance would have it I know Jo's mom. She's a good friend o' mine actually. And, yeah, that Jo is a pistol. You've made a wise choice befriending that live-wire, I surely wouldn't wanna get on her bad side!"</p>
<p>"Do you mean Ellen?" asked Sam with a mouth full of potatoes, Bobby nodded. "Hey that's cool, maybe they could come over some time. If you haven't been to the Roadhouse yet, you should; Ellen makes <em>amazing</em> pie," Sam said, turning to Anna.</p>
<p>"That she does," Dean agreed, glad that things seemed to be going smoother now, so he caught Cas's eye and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. He noticed Bobby watching him and hastily looked back down to his plate, but he had the strong impression the old coot was smirking at him. Goddammit.</p>
<p>"There's pool and darts and this guy called Ash there who's really funny," Sam prattled on excitably to their guests.</p>
<p>"Hmm, thinking about it maybe the Roadhouse ain't exactly the best place to be taking kids," grumbled Bobby, looking at Cas and then to Anna. </p>
<p>"But we've been going there forever," argued Sam, indicating himself and Dean.</p>
<p>"My point exactly." </p>
<p>A ripple of laughter broke some more of the ice between them, and soon they were chatting and eating and things weren't nearly as catastrophic as Dean had worried they would be. It felt good. He was hopeful.</p>
<p>— – - • - – —</p>
<p>Cas washed the dishes to the wonderful sounds of Anna enjoying herself playing a game with Dean. Sam was curled up on the sofa reading a book, making the occasional comment on Dean's naval strategic abilities that had Cas chuckling quietly to himself. He couldn't help suspecting that this was what a home was supposed to sound like.</p>
<p>There was a creak of old floorboards, and Mr Singer came walking up to the draining board, grabbed a dish towel and began to dry the plates already set there. Cas tried not to get awkward. He was semi-successful.</p>
<p>"Anna was just tellin' us about the time you got told off by the Emergency Room nurses for singin' to her when she hurt her leg," Mr Singer said. And of course she had. </p>
<p>"Yeah, she loves telling that story. She was really afraid of the hospital, though."</p>
<p>"And that you carried her all the way there."</p>
<p>"Well, the buses weren't running. She probably exaggerated how far it was."</p>
<p>"Mmhmm. Did Dean tell you what he talked to me about the other day?" Mr Singer asked, abruptly changing the subject. Cas tensed up, but continued to scrub.</p>
<p>"Yes." </p>
<p>"And? What do you think of the whole idea?"</p>
<p>Cas clunked a pan onto the drainer.</p>
<p>"I think it's a big imposition to ask of you. We're not your responsibility, I'd understand if you declined. I wouldn't hold it against you, Mr Singer." Cas endeavored to keep his tone neutral. </p>
<p>"No need to be so formal with me, Cas," said Mr Singer a bit more gently. "In case you hadn't noticed, this ain't exactly Lady Bracknell's tea party." </p>
<p>Cas huffed out a small laugh. "I suppose I'm nervous," he admitted. </p>
<p>"I don't blame ya'." </p>
<p>They continued to wash and dry in silence for a while longer, an undignified squawk from Dean followed by a sardonic chuckle from Sam causing Cas to smile again, despite his nerves. When Bobby didn't say anything more he steeled himself to continue the conversation, preparing internally for the worst. </p>
<p>"Mr Singer, I–" </p>
<p>"Call me Bobby. Be a bit awkward if you called me Mr Singer every day now, wouldn't it?" </p>
<p>Cas turned to look at him sharply, brows furrowed. Mr Singer caught his eye, a twinkle of something in his own. </p>
<p>"I take it by that slack-jawed starin' that you caught my ever-so-subtle drift?" </p>
<p>"Y-yes...I think so," said Cas, nodding his head slightly. "You're offering us a place here with you?" he clarified after a pause, just to be sure.</p>
<p>"I am," Bobby said, turning back to his drying as though he were just chatting about the football, not about totally changing two lives. "For some months, at least. I got a good eye for people, and I think you and your sister could do well here, if you wanted to. Though I hope it goes without sayin' you wouldn't be working your current job while you're under this roof." </p>
<p>Cas blushed and tried not to squirm under the realization that Bobby knew. Of course he did. But he wasn't calling the police – he was still offering his home. "Of course not," Cas nodded solemnly, hands stilling in the sink.</p>
<p>"What're you thinking?" </p>
<p>"I'm thinking...I'll need to think about it," Cas replied honestly. "How much would rent be?"</p>
<p>"I dunno," he said scratching his scruffy beard, "I was never great shakes at math, what's thirty percent of nothin'?"</p>
<p>"Mr Singer, I'm not going to–"</p>
<p>"For the last time, it's Bobby; and if you can cook a decent meal that's more valuable to me than your damn money! Cook, keep this place decent enough and that'll more than cover you takin' up a space I don't even use in the first place. Y'understand?"</p>
<p>"I understand, Mi– Bobby. And...thank you," breathed Cas, his heart beating hard. "It's a lot to offer perfect strangers."</p>
<p>"Yeah, well, you came with a helluva recommendation." Bobby cast his eyes over to where Dean and Anna were debating the likelihood of starting civil war if Dean sunk her battleship, since they were both American.</p>
<p>"I can't imagine Dean said anything that fantastic, he barely knows me." </p>
<p>Bobby looked at him intently. </p>
<p>"To get that boy to give enough of a crap about you to willingly walk in here and talk to <em>me</em> about his...<em>private life?"</em> Bobby raised his eyebrows significantly. "Yeah. I'd say you had an impact. And I can see why."</p>
<p>Cas 's face got hot, and he looked at the murky dishwater, trying not to hear his sister's laughter and exclamations as she won the game, insisting that civil war was worth it for her victory. He choked on the knot forming in his throat. </p>
<p>"But Dean," Bobby continued before Cas could make a sound, wiping his hands on the towel. "That boy's got a lot more heart than he lets on. You take care of it, you hear?" And before Cas could answer, Bobby strolled off back into the lounge. </p>
<p>"But we're not...together..." Cas mumbled hoarsely to no one.</p>
<p>The kitchen now seemed to contain very little air. Quickly as he could, he dried his hands then walked out to the front hallway and sank into a crouch against the wall. He rubbed his palms along his legs and just breathed. </p>
<p>Shit like this didn't get offered to Cas. He didn't get happiness and family dinners. He didn't get kindly benefactors, or friends. Everything came at a price. Or with an expiration date. He felt a little like this was some weird half-baked fantasy he'd dreamed up, and had his suspicions he was now in a coma somewhere after being beaten up by some john.</p>
<p>The floorboard to his left creaked. He looked up. Dean stood with his hands in his pockets, looking down at Cas softly. The lump in Cas's throat got worse. </p>
<p>"Hey," Dean said, lowering himself to mirror Cas's position against the wall opposite, and looking at his own hands.</p>
<p>"Hey," he managed to reply, just. </p>
<p>"Your sister is a tyrant," joked Dean. "Discourage her from a career in politics or the military, please, for all our sakes." When Cas couldn't laugh, Dean looked up at him. "Are you okay?" </p>
<p>"Why–" he swallowed. "Why are you doing all this?" </p>
<p>This took Dean aback apparently. He blinked at Cas.</p>
<p>"You don't want to do that job anymore, you said so." </p>
<p>"That doesn't answer my question. Why are y–" </p>
<p>"Because you shouldn't have to do this alone," Dean cut across him. "I know what it's like to struggle alone with shit like this, and I know it can't last. And sure, you've made it this far but is this really what you want your life to be?" </p>
<p>"What I want doesn't matter. I'll do what it takes to keep Anna fed and clothed and educated, that's not even a choice," replied Cas, feeling his forced calm start to slip through his clammy fingers.</p>
<p>"Okay, but how about now you got a choice, you do something that'll help you too?" said Dean, still staring him down.</p>
<p>"Easy for you to say, this job is all the backup I have, I don't know what's gonna happen tomorrow, or in a week, a month. Do you know what you're asking?" </p>
<p>"I'm asking you to <em>choose you!"</em> Dean exclaimed. "Look, I can't promise that everything'll be hunky dory if you move out; my experience says most stuff sucks most of the time. But I can almost guarantee that things'll suck a little less if you're at least in a house you know you ain't gonna get kicked out of."</p>
<p>"But–" Cas began.</p>
<p>"<em>And</em>," Dean interrupted, pausing for emphasis until Cas finally looked at him, "you wouldn't have to risk <em>this</em> –" Dean knelt forward, reached out and ran a gentle thumb over the now fading bruise on Cas's jaw "– or worse anymore. You deserve better, Cas." </p>
<p>The skin he was touching burned, as though Dean's fingers were hot metal. Suddenly Cas couldn't look away from those eyes. The hand left his cheek but the heat left in its wake remained. Dean was kneeling in front of Cas, like he was the one who needed Cas's benediction; reaching out to him yet again, in spite of everything he knew Cas to be. </p>
<p>His head began to spin a little as he kept his eyes locked on Dean's. Dean didn't reach for him again after letting his hand drop and Cas ached to have contact once more, but like the utter coward he was, he didn't reach forward. His hand curled into a fist and heat filled him from the stomach upwards. When faced with a real human connection, Cas felt almost otherworldly in his inability to let himself fall like other people. Well, no, he could fall – had already fallen hard – but was unable to open himself up and invite another soul truly know him. He'd seen scary, and this was still the scariest thing he could think of.</p>
<p>His fingers twitched. Somehow, in his head, reaching for Dean right now and accepting this ridiculously generous help were one and the same. But Dean was here, still here, waiting for him, looking at him with those eyes, so inviting...</p>
<p>Cas unfurled his fingers slowly and his hand inched forward. He was balancing at the top of a high-rise...</p>
<p><em>Cough</em>.</p>
<p>Cas almost leapt out of his fucking skin! He turned and saw Sam, standing a few steps away, looking down at them with an eyebrow raised. Cas's pulse hammered away in his too-hot ears as he made to stand up. </p>
<p>"What d'you want, Sammy?" asked Dean gruffly, also getting to his feet. His cheeks were a little pink.</p>
<p>Sam pulled a face that indicated the answer should be obvious, but also that he was exasperated <em>and</em> confused. It was quite an expression. "I need to get to the bathroom?" he ventured, nodding down the corridor beyond Dean and Cas, which they'd been blocking quite effectively. </p>
<p>"Oh," said Dean, stuffing his hands in his pockets once again and shuffling awkwardly past Sam towards the lounge. Cas received a brief, calculating look from Sam before he walked past him quickly to the bathroom. Without looking at Dean, Cas hurriedly made his way up the slightly dusty staircase, leaned against a wall on the upstairs landing out of sight and thunked his head back onto it. </p>
<p>Christ, his heart was trying to break through his ribs.</p>
<p>He would just breathe for a minute. Just breathe. </p>
<p>After a while he was roused from his reverie by Anna and Dean's laughter traveling through the house again, and he heard Sam return to the main room. </p>
<p>Overwhelming. It was overwhelming. And if making love to Dean had felt overwhelming before, it was kind of nothing compared to just <em>talking</em> with him sometimes. Cas needed to think. He really, <em>really</em> needed to think, which wasn't going to happen tonight, hiding in a dusty hallway from the people expecting him. He took a few deep breaths.</p>
<p>Cas returned to the living room, hands in his pockets to disguise how much they might be trembling. Dean was sitting on one of the well worn sofas next to Sam, who had picked up his book again. Anna was carefully packing away all the small pieces from their game and Mr Singer sat, reclined in an armchair, talking to Dean across the room.</p>
<p>"–think you should see if Guenther's got a position open. You'd earn better wage as a mechanic, and you've practically rebuilt that Impala from the chassis up– ah, Cas," said Bobby, catching sight of him in the archway to the room. "We were just talkin' about how you should be gettin' yourselves home. It's been great havin' ya, but it's still a school night, and ain't nobody going truant tomorrow because of me."</p>
<p>Anna turned and pouted up at him. "It's not even that late though," she protested. </p>
<p>"Don't fall for the puppy dog eyes, Cas. Sammy still tries to pull that one on me all the time," said Dean, winking.</p>
<p>"I do not!" Sam burst out indignantly, shoving Dean with his foot. Dean just looked at Cas with an expression that said <em>he so totally does,</em> while Bobby chuckled away in his chair. Cas felt a smile tug at his lips, glad that Dean could still achieve friendly and casual, even though Cas was in a bit of a tailspin. </p>
<p>"I'm afraid I'm siding with the majority, Anna, we should get home," Cas said. And he could look forward to another night of barely any sleep, listening for any sound that might possibly be their mother coming back, both dreading and hoping for it. </p>
<p>The rest of them all stood up, and everyone got ready to leave. As Cas reached the door, Dean held him back before he could exit. </p>
<p>"Sammy, Anna, you two go get in the car, we'll be out in just a second," Dean said to their younger siblings. They were treated to another shrewd look from Sam, before the two of them left Dean, Bobby, and Cas alone. </p>
<p>Suddenly, the fact that Bobby knew he turned tricks for a living, and was also probably aware that Dean and Cas had slept together was incredibly hard to ignore, and Cas got a bit hot in the face, struggling with his bone-deep urge to bolt through the open door.</p>
<p>"So, I think we're all on the same page by now," said Bobby to both of them. "Cas, you take as much time as you need to think before you decide about anything, just let me know. But you and your sister are welcome here anytime you'd like, whatever you end up deciding. You got a phone?" </p>
<p>Cas fished his old brick of a phone (accidentally left by a nervous john and never sought after) out of his pocket and handed it to Bobby, who tapped in his number without ceremony. "You just get in touch whenever," he said gruffly, then looked between them, with almost an air of exasperation. "You got anything to add, Dean?"</p>
<p>Dean, who'd apparently been just staring at Cas, jumped a little. "Uh, no, I think...think we all know what's going on," he said shiftily. Bobby looked almost a tiny bit disappointed in his answer, but quickly became brusque again.</p>
<p>"Alright. Then get on home, ya' idjits."</p>
<p>"It was a pleasure to meet you," said Cas. "And thank you." He received a nod from Bobby, before he and Dean crossed the threshold.</p>
<p>They left the house, got into the car and trundled out of the Singer Salvage yard. Once they had pulled up to Cas and Anna's place, Dean turned off the engine and got out to walk them up to the front door. Cas unlocked it, familiar nerves filling his stomach, but it was clear within seconds that his mom had not returned in their absence. His heart barely reacted this time. </p>
<p>"Anna, would you go clean your teeth? I'm just going to say goodbye to Dean." </p>
<p>"Okay. Goodnight, Dean," she said politely, waving sweetly at Dean before heading to the bathroom, leaving the two of them alone, albeit still in view of the car. </p>
<p>"I can't think of a smooth way to ask for your number," said Dean after a moment, looking slightly awkward and incredibly attractive. He quirked Cas a half-smile. Cas felt that strong urge to drag Dean into his room again, and used an awful lot of his self control to resist it.</p>
<p>"You can have my number. No smoothness required," he answered, with a small smile of his own.</p>
<p>They stood together in the quiet for a minute after they had exchanged numbers, unspoken needs and wants just waiting to be vocalized; but as the seconds dragged on, the less likely it became that either of them would say anything. Dean's lips were so full and right there. If Cas could justify a goodnight kiss, he'd lean in and go for–</p>
<p>The obnoxious blare of a car horn rent the silence, making them both jump. Cas saw Sam with his hand over the steering wheel and grimaced. </p>
<p>"You better get him home before he tries driving back by himself." </p>
<p>Dean's face dropped immediately. "Sam will never drive my car," he said, as serious as the grave. Cas laughed lightly. </p>
<p>"Night, Dean."</p>
<p>"Night, Cas," said Dean, then he was hurrying back to his ruggedly beautiful car and climbing in. Cas walked steadily to his bedroom and closed the door behind him. </p>
<p>He leaned his forehead against it and let the swirling mass of lust, confusion, worry, fear, shock, attraction, and hope take hold of his head for a moment. Let it all happen. He got a bit dizzy. Then he set it aside and went to set Anna down for the night.</p>
<p>— – - • - – —</p>
<p>"I don't trust you in my room." </p>
<p>"What? I'm just sitting here completely innocently!"</p>
<p>There was nothing innocent about it. Sam was sitting on Dean's bed, tossing his baseball up and down looking like the shiftiest shifter to ever shift. But Dean was a bit preoccupied looking for his football uniform – he had practice and a nasty suspicion he hadn't got it in the wash since last time. That was gonna be riiiipe. The slap of the ball in Sam's hands was annoying. And ominous. </p>
<p>"There's gonna be superglue on something in here, isn't there?" </p>
<p>"Oh, come on! I've already done that one, it'd be pretty weak to repeat a gag so soon," protested Sam, then he shrugged (still very suspiciously in Dean's opinion). "I just wanted to kill some time in here..." </p>
<p>Dean chose to ignore him in favor of continuing to look for his jersey. A few more slaps of the baseball.</p>
<p>"Did you guys have a fight?" </p>
<p>"Huh?" Dean emptied out the whole hamper onto the floor. Speaking of ripe–</p>
<p>"You and Cas, did I interrupt you guys arguing?" </p>
<p>Dean paused, listening fully now. He tried not to blush. "No. No, we're all good." He started to rummage.</p>
<p>"Then why were you staring at him like that?" </p>
<p>"Oh for the love of– I wasn't staring at him like anything!" He pushed away a pair of socks that might start walking by themselves any day now. </p>
<p>"You seemed aaawful interested in his eyes there, Dean," needled Sam in a sickly sweet voice. "He have something in them? Like the stars?" </p>
<p>Ah, for crap's sake – it was clear Sam was just giving him a hard time but Dean <em>knew</em> he was going red now. "Shut up, pipsqueak," he grumbled.</p>
<p>Sam laughed and continued to toss the baseball up into the air, simply because he knew it annoyed Dean. "I guess he is a bit weird," Sam chimed in, "but he's also kinda cool. Interesting. Nothing like your other friends."</p>
<p>"Hey!" </p>
<p>"So, when did you guys start hanging out?"</p>
<p>"I dunno," said Dean distractedly, turning back to his rummaging, tossing aside a grease-stained tee, "a month ago or whatever..."</p>
<p>"That was before he started at our school."</p>
<p>"Huh?" </p>
<p>"That was..." Sam went quiet, the slap of the baseball against his palm ceased and Dean paused in his hunt to look over at his brother who was staring at him. Dean didn't like his expression – it was the same one he got with advanced calculus.</p>
<p>"Oh...my god," gaped Sam, his eyes widening suddenly in realization. "<em>He's</em> the reason you took me to Wichita! But why didn't you..." </p>
<p>Dean, normally so quick with a cover story had simply frozen as the blood in his veins ran icy and his stomach plummeted. Sam surveyed him with mounting shock. "<em>Holy crap</em>, Dean!" </p>
<p>He finally unstuck his jaw. "You don't know what you're talking about," he growled.</p>
<p>"Dean–" </p>
<p>"You're gonna do that thing where you shut the hell up!" he barked, pointing a finger sharply at his little brother, but he knew his cover was blown. Sweat was breaking out all over.</p>
<p>He pathetically hot-footed it out of his own room to the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, feeling like a pit of angry snakes had replaced his intestines. Why did Sam have to be so fucking observant? Why did Dean have to be this hot and bothered over a dude? Why couldn't he get a <em>god damn grip?!</em></p>
<p>He leaned against the door breathing heavily. Bobby knowing was one thing. Bobby was Bobby, he'd keep it a secret. But his baby brother... Dean was meant to be the tough one, the role model. He couldn't bear Sam looking at him and seeing... he just <em>couldn't. </em></p>
<p>He heard the door to his bedroom close and Sam going into his own. Breathing a sigh of relief Dean nipped back to his room and shut himself in, hoping the closed door would barricade him from what was to come. Maybe he'd be lucky. Maybe for once in his life Sam would do as he was told and shut the hell up about it. Maybe this would all be forgotten. When fate takes a shit in your hat, you simply have to hope it doesn't rain.  </p>
<p>Next morning over breakfast, it rained. Sam kept trying to catch his eye, but Dean stalwartly studied his own plate instead. </p>
<p>"What's eating you, Dean?" his dad asked gruffly, stabbing at his pancakes.</p>
<p>"Nothing," replied Dean, trying to telepathically communicate to Sam to a) not say a word and b) quit trying to get his attention. It didn't work. But one of these days it might. </p>
<p>"Dean, can you look over my homework before school?" </p>
<p>At this thinly veiled ruse Dean simply had to look up. Smart the kid might be, but subtle he wasn't. This was a conversation he intensely did <em>not</em> want to have but, well, actually a bit of damage control might not be a bad shout. He could just deny everything. Always a good strategy.</p>
<p>"Sure," he shot back shortly. </p>
<p>"Since when were you an academic?" John muttered, seemingly to himself, an air of derisive humor in his words. Dean did his best to ignore it, but some days it was damn difficult. </p>
<p>As soon as he walked into Sam's room a few minutes later and closed the door, Sam rounded on him.</p>
<p>"Shut up," was Sam's opening gambit. Dean flung out his hands.</p>
<p>"I haven't said anything yet!" </p>
<p>"No, but you're going to and it's going to be stupid." </p>
<p>"Hey!" </p>
<p>"Ah ah, shut up," scolded Sam, holding his finger up in the air. "Before you actually say anything stupid <em>I</em> want to say a few things. Like, I like Cas. He seems cool. And I don't want you getting all weird because you like him, because he pretty obviously likes you back." </p>
<p>Dean was taken aback. He just stood silently for a second. "Is that it?"</p>
<p>"No," Sam said imperiously, frowning up at him. "Don't be an asshole like Dad." Dean had to bite his tongue to hold in the automatic defense that leaped there. "Don't act like a dick because Cas is a boy. I categorically could not give any kind of a shit and you shouldn't either." Sam folded his arms, eyebrows raised. "Are we clear?"</p>
<p>"Dude, I'm four years older than you don't try and–"</p>
<p>"Are we clear?!" </p>
<p>"Jeez! <em>Yes</em>, okay we're clear, now for the love of God can we stop talking about it?!"</p>
<p>"Alright. Good. Just wanted to....yeah." Dean shook his head slightly, this kid really did have a pair on him. </p>
<p>"You're an interfering little pest, you know that?" </p>
<p>"Yeah yeah, whatever, jerk," Sam said, a little smile appearing on his tense face. Dean was a lucky big brother. He cuffed Sam on the shoulder. </p>
<p>"Whatever, bitch."</p>
<p>— – - • - – —</p>
<p>Was Cas really doing this? He'd spent a combined total of less than a day in Dean's company and he was genuinely considering turning his life upside down because of the guy. Even Disney princesses usually got a couple solid days minimum to fall head over heels! And, yeah, Cas knew it was stupid and reckless and ass-backwards and dumb but... he did seem to be following a Disney princess kind of schedule with this thing.</p>
<p>Fuck it all, he was seriously considering it. </p>
<p>He was so close to finishing school, <em>so</em> fucking close. If he accepted this help, graduated and got a job ASAP, it wouldn't be too bad. And he could keep Anna in her new school. Let her make friends and have sleepovers and do regular kid stuff. </p>
<p>His mom probably wouldn't even notice when she showed back up, and he was pretty damn sure she wouldn't call Child Protective Services, or get any authorities involved at all for that matter – not with the state she was in or the company she kept. She might even be grateful to have them out of her hair, he didn't know.</p>
<p>He felt a tiny, barely there twinge of guilt that without his earnings their mother would probably become homeless pretty quick, but it was stomped out almost immediately by the memories of Anna, crying and hungry on a bare mattress, while his mom slept off an entire distillery. </p>
<p>He ran cold with bone deep fury. That memory clinched it; they would move out. He was resolved. They'd move in with his ex-client's pseudo-uncle...maybe he shouldn't think of it in those exact terms – sounded weird as fuck. Mr Singer had seemed nice enough though, and luck of luck, his sprawling property was close enough to both their schools to mean they wouldn't need to transfer again.</p>
<p>He walked up to Anna's room and knocked. </p>
<p>"Come in!" she called. </p>
<p>He stepped inside. "Hey there, kiddo. I've...I've got some news."</p>
<p>"Is it from Mom?" </p>
<p>Cas sighed deeply. "No, it's not. But it's kind of about her. You know she's not been home in a while?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," said Anna dejectedly, picking at her comforter.</p>
<p>"Well, that's because she's...not very well. Not well enough to take care of herself or us. In fact she's not exactly been well enough to look after us for a while. I've been trying my best, but–"</p>
<p>"You take care of us really well, Cas," Anna interrupted, earnestly. He smiled at her.</p>
<p>"Thank you for saying that. But, you know our new friends?"</p>
<p>"Dean and Sam and Mr Singer," Anna reeled off like she was supposed to learn this for a quiz.</p>
<p>"Yeah, well, Mr Singer has offered to help us out. I'm getting busy at school and I don't like leaving you here alone, so he's offered to let us stay with him for a little while."</p>
<p>"We have to move again?" Anna's face fell.</p>
<p>"Yes, but...but it'll be the last time for a while. I promise."</p>
<p>"But what about Mom?" </p>
<p>"Like I said, she's unwell. When we go...she'll be staying here." God it was harder to say all this than he'd imagined.</p>
<p>"But who'll look after her when she comes back? You look after me when I'm sick."</p>
<p>"She's..." he swallowed, "it's not the type of sick that I can help her get better from, little bean." A tear sprang to Castiel's eye as he said it. "And I have to make sure you're okay. Over everything else, you're my top priority. And if we go to Mr Singer's place, it'll be easier for me to take care of you properly. You can even stay in this school, keep your friends. Would you like that?"</p>
<p>"I would. There's this girl called Hannah and she's really nice, and she's friends with Jo, even though Jo plays with the boys at recess–" Cas let her run on about the different kids in her class and the politics of who played with whom, letting her be distracted for a while before she slowed down and finally stopped. "Will Sam and Dean come visit us when we're there?" </p>
<p>"I...I think so," Cas shrugged.</p>
<p>"Can I have some friends over too?" </p>
<p>"We'll have to ask first, but probably." </p>
<p>"Okay," she said, brightening slightly. "When are we going?"</p>
<p>"Soon. Tomorrow if possible. So it's a good thing we're mostly still packed, huh?"</p>
<p>Anna stared at him shrewdly for a while. "Will Mom ever get better?" </p>
<p>At this, the tear that'd been balancing precariously on Cas's lashes fell. He hated that he grieved for someone who'd been absent for so long, and caused such damage. He couldn't lie about it though.</p>
<p>"I don't know." He hastily swiped the moisture from his face.</p>
<p>"Don't be sad, Cas, maybe she will and she'll come collect us and we can celebrate." </p>
<p>Cas loved his little sister more than life itself but he really wished she'd be quiet. "Let's concentrate on making sure you've got everything you need from the boxes in the sitting room, okay?" </p>
<p>"Okay," replied Anna, climbing off her bed. She slipped her arms around Cas and hugged him. He screwed up his eyes tight while he hugged her back.</p>
<p>— – - • - – —</p>
<p>Dean got his first ever text from Cas on Friday evening. It was possibly the best text he'd ever received. </p>
<p>
  <strong>&gt;Let's get us the hell out of here.</strong>
</p>
<p> </p>
<p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>It's.....its been actual years. I promise I'll finish, we're edging up on the end now. And who knows? Maybe I'll finish before the start of the next decade! :) achievable goals. Thanks to everyone who has read, kudosed and commented – I appreciate it SO much!</p></blockquote></div></div>
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